The Minnesota Biological Survey (MBS) is an ongoing effort begun in 1987 by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) that is systematically surveying, county-by-county, the state’s natural habitats. The effort identifies significant natural areas and collects and interprets data on the status, distribution, and ecology of plants, animals, and native plant communities throughout the state. To date, surveys have been completed in 81 of Minnesota’s 87 counties and nearly 20,000 records of rare features have been recorded.
Many of the most experienced conservation practitioners at local soil and water conservation districts throughout the state are nearing retirement, and with their departure will go much of their practical, on-the-ground knowledge, experience, and skills. Meanwhile, college students seeking to be the next generation of conservation practitioners have knowledge of emerging technologies and other innovations that can improve and contribute to current conservation efforts.
Funds are appropriated for programs and purposes of the Minnesota Humanities Center. The humanities remind us of where we have been, bring knowledge and insights to current life, and help us envision where we are going. We work to articulate and strengthen what connects us, rather than what divides us.
Farming is at the heart of Minnesota’s history and development, yet today more than half of all Minnesotans live in urban or suburban settings with little or no exposure to Minnesota’s agricultural history or culture. The Wells Fargo Family Farm provides an opportunity for the Zoo’s 1.3 million guests to experience a working farm, directly interact with farm staff and animals, and learn to appreciate agricultural food production.
There are 67 Minnesota State Parks and 7 Minnesota State Recreation areas that each have facilities to serve outdoor recreation users. Funds in this category are used for developing new facilities and include visitor centers, trail centers, roads, parking lots, bridges, campgrounds, and so on.
The Arts and Access Programs included two major new initiatives: 1. New arts and access programming at Minnesota Children’s Museum-Rochester; and 2. Creativity Jam Exhibit, which engaged Minnesota children and families in a changing line-up of large-scale creative arts projects and loose parts play at the Minnesota Children's Museum's flagship downtown Saint Paul site.
The goal of this project is to extend existing Hydrologic Simulation Program FORTRAN (HSPF) models through 2017 for the following major watersheds: Redwood, Cottonwood, Watonwan, Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Pomme de Terre, Minnesota River-Headwaters, and Lac Qui Parle watersheds.
The objective of this project is to build on previous efforts aimed at determining the public health risk due to virus contamination in Minnesota groundwater. The Minnesota Department of Health will examine the occurrence of viruses in non-disinfecting groundwater sources in Minnesota as well as evaluate the association between source water virus occurrence and community acute gastrointestinal illness.
Minnesota Trout Unlimited enhanced in-stream and riparian habitat for trout and other wildlife along more than 11 miles of coldwater streams across the state. We far exceeded our original targets, enhancing habitat on 135 acres rather than 78. We completed 16 separate stream habitat projects. Leveraging other funding and efficiently contracting projects allowed us to add habitat projects and adjust to changing conditions.
The Arboretum, consistent with the priorities of the LSOHC, successfully purchased 78.13 acres in Victoria, Minnesota adjacent to Arboretum property. The purchase will ensure the protection of the deepest lake in Carver County and valuable habitat for future generations.
This project is was the third request of LSOHC to target riparian buffers for clean water and wildlife using the Reinvest In Minnesota easement program. The Clean Water Fund and OHF were be used in cooperation to secure priority buffers permanently. Five hundred and thirty three acres of enhanced wildlife and water quality buffers were protected with OHF dollars and a total of 1,208 acres were protected from all sources of funding.
This project will create a high accuracy elevation dataset - critical for effectively planning and implementing water quality projects - for the state of Minnesota using LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and geospatial mapping technologies. Although some areas of the state have been mapped previously, many counties remain unmapped or have insufficient or inadequate data. This multi-year project, to be completed in 2012, is a collaborative effort of Minnesota's Digital Elevation Committee and partners with county surveyors to ensure accuracy with ground-truthing.
Minnesota Youth in Government (YIG) is a youth-led experience that engages middle and high school youth in democratic governing leadership. Students learn about government process and gain an understanding of local, state, national and international concerns. They research and debate, participate in model Assemblies, United Nations, Youth Conferences on National Affairs, retreats and trainings, and National Judicial Competition, and gain an appreciation of diverse viewpoints in respectful ways.
It is commonly understood that one of the most important purposes of educating the nation's citizens is to protect and strengthen democracy. Education in America must prepare all students for informed participation in civic and democratic life. Minnesota Civic Youth develops authentic, nonpartisan civic programs to support educators in their efforts to prepare the next generation of citizens and to help students learn about democracy, civic responsibility and the political process.
The primary goal of the Humanities Center’s Education Initiative is to increase student engagement and success; the foundation is strengthening the teacher-student relationship. Drawing upon the multiplicity of experiences and cultures represented in schools, educators gain insight into how to engage every student authentically and respectfully.
The Minnesota Humanities Center is dedicated to bringing informative, enlightening, and engaging events to the community, providing all Minnesotans opportunities to build relationships, listen to stories, and learn from one-another.
The Humanities Center used a portion of the Legacy funding for program planning and management. This support includes work such as exploratory and planning meetings for new initiatives and program management of all our Legacy work.
Drawing on the power of the humanities, Veterans’ Voices changes the narrative of Veterans and honors their contributions. It empowers Veterans to speak in their own voices through plays, discussions, literature, and the Veterans’ Voices Award. Veterans’ Voices will recognize the next great generation and illustrate that the Veteran’s voice is essential to the work of building our great democracy.
We Are Water MN is a traveling exhibition and community engagement initiative that emerged from the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street project. Continued by MHC and several state partners, six greater Minnesota communities (Spicer, St. Peter, Red Wing, Sandstone, Lanesboro, and Detroit Lakes) hosted the exhibit in 2016-2017, and eight communities hosted the exhibit in 2018-2019 (Saint Paul, Bemidji, Crookston, Cloquet, Austin, Northfield, Grand Rapids, and Onamia).
Why Treaties Matter: Self-Government in the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations is a traveling exhibition made in partnership with the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian. The exhibit explores relationships between Dakota and Ojibwe Indian Nations and the U.S. government in this place we now call Minnesota. More than ten communities hosted the exhibit in the 2018-2019 year: Morton, Red Lake, Fergus Falls, Minneapolis, Mankato, Cass Lake, St. Cloud, White Bear Lake, St.
This project will develop a reasonable statewide estimate of recharge using the Soil-Water-Balance (SWB) Code (Westenbroek and others, 2010), validate the simulation results, and conduct a parameter sensitivity analysis to identify the most sensitive model parameters. For the purposes of this application of the SWB application, comparing the simulation results will be conducted on selected watershed basins in the state against previously established recharge estimates.
Minnesota History Magazine celebrates its 100th anniversary with a new digital version. Beginning in April 2015, the quarterly magazine will be available as an app for both iPad and Android. The app version allows innovative additional content and also offers audiences an up-to-date channel for accessing, engaging with, and experiencing Minnesota's history.
The Minnesota History Center offered numerous programs and events to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Minnesota's role in the Civil War, including a sold-out lecture by Richard Moe, author of "Last Full Measure: The Life and Death of the First Minnesota Volunteers;" a "Nine Nights of Music" tribute to the Civil War and a remembrance of fallen soldiers; a Gettysburg/Vicksburg Anniversary Family Day; and a new "Saint Paul after the Civil War" trolley tour. Other programs include dance and music performances from the Rose Ensemble and other partner organizations, lectures, and more.
Partner: The Minnesota State Fair Foundation
The Minnesota Historical Society and the Minnesota State Fair Foundation are increasing awareness and knowledge of Minnesota history by providing quality programming for visitors to the Great Minnesota Get Together. In 2013, the partners added new visual and written content for the Minnesota State Fair History Walking Tour brochure, new audio and visual content to the smartphone tour component, and presented audio/visual content via social media throughout the fair.
The Minnesota Historical Society receives funds that it passes to Minitex to support the operation of the Minnesota Digital Library (MDL). MDL supports the digitization efforts of more than 150 participating historical organizations across the states and maintains the technical infrastructure for providing access to those collections on the web. MDL also advances educational and scholarly uses of the collections and is a data partner with the Digital Public Library of America.
Partner: Preservation Alliance of Minnesota
The Minnesota Main Street Program is a proven, comprehensive strategy that helps communities create new jobs and businesses while preserving their historic downtowns. Additional partners include: GreenStep Cities, Minnesota Design Team, University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality, and University of Minnesota Tourism Center. The program provides tools, training, information and networking that communities need to revitalize their business districts.
Minnesota's Legacy Website is a site that follows the progress of all projects and programs receiving constitutionally dedicated funding from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment as well as the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Minnesota's Legacy Website is a site that follows the progress of all projects and programs receiving constitutionally dedicated funding from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment as well as the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
Minnesota's Legacy Website is a site that follows the progress of all projects and programs receiving constitutionally dedicated funding from the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment as well as the Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund.
